Friday, 9 January 2015

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

There are many fossil sites around Vancouver, British Columbia. Sadly, the volume and preservation of these fossils is far from ideal.

Still, if you are looking for a wee day trip, then a trip to the Capilano River is just the thing. From downtown Vancouver, drive through
Stanley Park up and over the Lion’s Gate Bridge. Take the North Vancouver exit toward the
ferries. Turn right onto Taylor Way and
then right again at Clyde Avenue. Look
for the Park Royal Hotel. Park anywhere
along Clyde Avenue.

From Clyde Avenue walk down the path to
your left towards the Capilano River. Watch the water level and treat cautiously as it can be slippery.

Look for beds of sandstone about 200 meters north of the private bridge
and just south of the Hwy bridge. The
fossil beds are just below the Whytecliff Apartment high rises.

You will see some exposed shale in the
area. It does not contain fossil material. The fossils occur only in the sandstone. Interesting, but again, not fossiliferous are the many granitic boulders and large boulders of limestone which may
have been brought down by glaziers from as far away as Texada Island.

PALEONTOLOGICAL GEMS

desolation sound

FOUR RAINDROPS...

Four individual raindrops falling on the high peaks of the Rockies could easily end up thousands of miles apart -- one flowing north to the Beaufort Sea, another reaching the the Gulf of Mexico, a third would be absorbed into Hudson Bay to the east and the last into the vast Pacific.

Nature Blog Network

TYAUGHTON

Paleontology News

TYAUGHTON FOSSIL FIELD TRIP

PaleoWire

solnhofen

WEST COAST

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KITSILANO KANE

GODS OF THE SEA

Ammonites were a group of hugely successful aquatic molluscs that looked like the still extant Nautilus, a coiled shellfish that lives off the southern coast of Asia. While the Nautilus lived on, ammonites graced our waters from around 400 million years ago until the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years.

COHO FISHING | SEYMOUR INLET

Hunt Family Potlatch

EQUUS FERUS CABALLUS

world PALEONTOLOGY

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CUDDLY CUTIE PIES

Building British Columbia

Some 270 million plus years ago, had one wanted to buy waterfront property in what is now British Columbia, you’d be looking somewhere between Prince George and the Alberta border.

Explore Inspire Experience

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FOSSILHUNTRESS TRACKS

HEIDI, DANIEL & CHARLES HELM

NEWSVINE

SUNSHINE COAST

Scientific American

EN PROVENCE

MYOMANCY | MICE PREDICTOR

Myomancy was a method of divination by mice. Their behaviour was observed and taken as a omen of what was to come. Modern scientists study the movements of mice more than the ancient myomancers did and for ends that are not dissimilar.

SISTERS | NIGHT AND DAY

ALPINE ADVENTURE

Heidi Henderson | Fossil Huntress

DIATRYMA TRACKWAY

Rare bird, reptile and mammal tracks have been immortalized in the outcrops of the Chuckanut Formation. Diatryma tracks have also been found there. These massive flightless birds reached up to 9 feet in height and made a living in the grasslands and swamps of the Eocene.

Best Friends

TROPICAL CHUCKANUT

The siltstones, sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the Chuckanut Formation were laid down about 40-54 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, a time of luxuriant plant growth in the subtropical flood plain that covered much of the Pacific Northwest.

PALEONTOLOGICAL EXPLORER

TUMBLER RIDGE TRACKWAY

T-REX

OLYMPIC PENINSULA

One of the most beautiful drives in the Pacific Northwest is the coastline along the Olympic Peninsula from Port Angeles to Neah Bay. This stretch of road meanders alongside the Clallam Formation, a thick, mainly marine sequence of sandstones and siltstones that line the northwestern margin of the Olympic Peninsula, western Washington.

DINOSAUR TRACK

oregon paleontology

The Farallon Plate took a turn north some 57 million years ago, sweeping much of western coastal Oregon along with it. By the middle Oligocene, the Cascadia Subduction Zone was in full force with growing pressure erupting volcanoes along the Western Cascades, a pattern that was to continue well into the Miocene. The soft ocean sediments of Oregon contain beautifully preserved gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods.

BLESS GOOD FRIENDS

rain or shine

Rain long foretold takes a long time to pass; if it arrives on short notice, it soon will pass. For the folks I go out collecting with all hikes, digs and kayak trips are rain or shine. Safety is always top of mind and prepping for the weather is paramount. Keep yourself safe whatever part of the world you choose to explore. For forecasts of marine weather in Vancouver call 604.666.3655 or visit http://www.weatheroffice.com/

EXPLORING PARADISE

DEEP COVE

SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING?

ARTWORK BY TINA BEARD

Tina Beard is an artist and paleo enthusiast on Vancouver Island. She does some of the most exquisite artwork I've had the pleasure to behold.